Balsamic & GarlicMushroom Ravioli

I posted up a pasta recipe not so long ago and as our chickens and ducks are pumping out eggs like nobodies business I figured why not go all out on the pasta front and knock up some mushroom ravioli. Naturally it does help that we are not a slave to the garden at the moment as Mother Nature has delivered some unseasonably wet and mild weather this summer. So we can spend a little time getting a production line going and have a bit of fun.

Whilst I do love slow cooking most of my recipes are pretty simple affairs that do take a little time to make but are typically fairly low maintenance affairs, this on the other hand is a little different. It is not particularly difficult, but it does require a little time and a bit of space, but we set aside an hour or so and set up ‘team Krumpli’ and my wife and I had great fun working together creating these parcels of ‘balsamicky’ ‘garlicky’ treats.

I have posted quite a few recipes that were reminders of my childhood. but when I was growing up Ravioli came in tins and was smothered in the same old sauce that spaghetti hoops came smothered in. Heaven knows what the insipid and mushy filling was in them!

These mushroom ravioli could not be further from those memories, they are definitely much more grown up and definitely aimed at those that love garlic, which of course you could tone down if you wish. You could top this dish with some truffles if you would like it to be be even more indulgent, but I am a simple chap and went for Parmesan instead. That and the fact that adding truffles to this dish would blow our monthly food budget!

If I were to identify a gap in my food ‘knowledge’ that I would like to narrow I would say without hesitation that the gap is mushrooms, I love them but I really am rather unadventurous in the types of mushrooms I use. Once I head beyond the button, portabello & chestnut variety I have to confess I am a little lost. I would love to be able to forage for different mushrooms and I live in the perfect place to do it, but my language skills really would not stand up to the teaching involved in ambling around the local copices and forests looking for fungal treats.

We do actually have a little ‘mushroom’ office at a market hall in a relatively nearby town but it is only open at stupid o’ clock in the morning, but you can take in your foraged fungal treats and they will tell you whether they are edible or not. Yaybe one day I will be up early enough to give it a whirl. Maybe then my next mushroom ravioli dish will feature wild mushrooms, but for now, plain old button mushrooms it is.

Whilst developing this recipe for mushroom ravioli it was a pretty easy decision as to what to pair up with the mushrooms for the filling, as far as I am concerned there are two flavours that are perfect with mushrooms, Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar. So flavours identified of we delved into the world the world of ravioli, despite being a dab hand at knocking up a quick pasta.

It is fairly rare for me to stuff pasta so to start off with things were a little slow but soon my wife and I got into our stride with Julie running the piping bag with the mushroom stuffing and me on sealing, shaping and finishing duties. It was really nice for both of us working together on a dish, usually cooking is a solo activity with one person chatting away distracting the other from what they should be doing, so to share making something this delicious was a bit of a giggle and a refreshing change.

A grown up Balsamic Mushroom Ravioli that is well worth the effort to make for those of you that love Garlic and Mushrooms!

Course:
Main Course

Cuisine:
Italian

Servings: 2

Calories: 1544kcal

Author: Brian Jones

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the filling

2TbspOlive Oil

6Garlic ClovesFinely diced

125gOnionFinely diced

400gMushroomsFinely Sliced

1Sprig Fresh Thyme

2TbspBalsamic Vinegar

50gBreadcrumbs

100gMascarpone Cheese

15gParmesan Cheese

For the Pasta

3EggsCrack them into a bowl and weigh them

Plain Flour00 if possible. Multiply the weight of the eggs by 1.5 to ascertain the amount of flour required

For the Sauce

100gUnsalted Butter

2ClovesGarlic

1HandfulParsley

Parmesan ShavingsFor garnish

Instructions

Instructions

For the filling

Heat the oil over a medium high heat and add the onions and cook until browned, 10 minutes approx

Add the garlic and thyme and cook for 1 minute and then add the mushrooms and cook for 5-7 minutes until nicely browned. It helps to do this in two batches to prevent the pan from being over crowded

Return all of the mushrooms to the pan and add the salt and a generous twist of freshly ground black pepper and the balsamic vinegar and cook until completely reduced

Then set aside the mushrooms and allow to cool completely

When cooled set aside 125g of the mushrooms for the dressing and add the remainder to the breadcrumbs, mascarpone cheese and the parmesan cheese and blitz in a food processor into a course paste and test for seasoning adding more salt and pepper if required

Always new hurdles to jump in the food world I’m finding. I have never made noodles from scratch. This recipe is calling my name loud and clear! I need to make those noodles and eat this recipe just as it is! We love garlic. Looks superb!

I am a sucker for ravioli because you can add anything to them and make them your own! I like them in their won right and not covered in heavy creamy sauces like most places feel they need to do. The fillings should stand on their own and with these mushrooms, they do! Balsamic is a great way to cut through the richness and leave you wanting more! I definitely want more! Thanks so much for sharing this with us on #SaucySaturdays! I hope you will link up and party with us again this Saturday. Bring me some more raviolis…

Thanks for you kind comment Jennifer, I’ll try and pop back on Saturday although I can’t promise ravioli.

Stuffed pasta always feels a bit special because of the time it takes to make them so for me at least subconsciously there is a little bit of extra ‘love’ in the food and I loved taking the time to set up a wee production line with my wife and had a bit of a giggle 🙂

LOL, I remember those tins of ravioli – and I thought they were delicious as a kid! Ackkks!
This beautiful dish is calling to me and we’ll have to find the time to do this dish. I agree, there’s nothing better than cooking with your partner. A lazy Saturday afternoon, fresh produce and a really great bottle of wine is the perfect day!
These flavours must marry up beautifully. I love when good strong ingredients come together to form perfection!
I’m going to make this and I’ll take some pics when I do. I have such a hard time shooting ravioli though so they might be good for a chuckle. Thanks for a great recipe 🙂

Thanks Robyn, the flavours just work… I do play around occasionally but when things aint broke then why go anywhere else, garlic, mushrooms and balsamic are just a match made in heaven. Looking forward to seeing the pictures, I find pasta and particularly stuffed ravioli a challenge to photograph too as it is very difficult to build in any structure or volume.

As for the canned ravioli, I guess we all liked some strange old stuff when we were children, in fact I have one that sticks with me now… Canned corned beef, real corned beef is so much better but there is just something that is a childhood memory about it that means it works. Fortunately we cannot get it out here so only indulge when we have friends and family visit from the UK and they usually stash away a can in their luggage 😀

I love Ravioli Brian! 🙂 I remember trying the canned variety when I was younger and thought I hated raviolis until I got to eat a classic ravioli that was the most beautiful pieces of pastas I’ve ever had! I’ve never made it at home though… it’s the perfect way to get my husband involved in it 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this recipe at #SaucySaturdays! We loved having you linkup with us! 🙂

I am sure I loved that canned ravioli as a kid, I have not had it for *mumble* years and suspect it would now leave me pulling a very funny face indeed… I still have no idea what turgid stuff it was filled with.

It is definitely fun cooking together and a little more organised as my wife keeps me in line 😉

Seriously! I think you could get a PHD in mushrooms and still not know what the heck is going on there. I also feel that way about peppers. But I’m dedicated to learning as much as I can about both. This ravioli sounds so good. I don’t eat a lot of pasta and have never made my own. This could change both of those things. And I’m so jealous of your farm. Chickens. Ducks. I’m going to start singing a song from “Oklahoma” any second. Sometimes I dream of leaving Brooklyn and going seriously country. Who knows?

Ha ha, I’m pretty much a mushroom Luddite and get lost beyond the usual Button, Chestnut and Portabello variety, but this is all pretty simple although it does take some time to bring the elements together but you can make them up in advance and they freeze really well if you freeze individually. Living in the sticks can be a huge culture shock we moved from a large city in the UK with a population of over 1m and now live in a wee village with a population of 180 and ‘no one’ speaks English, but it is all really cool, life is all about adventures right?

Looking forward to browsing through the rest of the Saucy Saturday stuff after I have created my latest offering 😀

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Recipe Rating

About Me

My name is Brian and back in 2008 myself and my wife quit our ‘real’ jobs in the UK, I picked up a spade and a camera and we moved to a small village in Rural Hungary to grow food, brew wine and take pictures. You will get no gimmicks, no trends, no dietary advice and no life advice here, just good food and the occasional story or two.